


A Home for a Stray

by CelestialVoid



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adopting a dog, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dogs, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, Pet Shelter, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 02:07:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15920715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialVoid/pseuds/CelestialVoid
Summary: Derek works at the local pet shelter and Stiles wants to adopt a puppy, but when they go to pick him up a week later, the pup is gone; someone else has adopted him.





	A Home for a Stray

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in under an hour so I'm sorry for any mistakes that there may be - I just really needed to get this out of my head.

Derek worked at the local pet shelter, and his husband was infamous among the volunteers. Whenever they found a stray or a nameless pet that they’d need a name for, Derek would send a photo to his husband, Stiles, and challenge him to name them. Stiles would come up with the best names and beg his husband for weeks to bring the animals home, hoping that one day Derek would cave and let him adopt one of them.

For months, Derek reminded his husband that they couldn’t get a dog until the renovations on their new house were complete. Finally, after months of sweettalking and bribery, Derek agreed to let Stiles adopt a dog. He took Stiles to the shelter where he works to meet the dogs, but it would still be a week before the renovations were finished and the dog would come home with them.

That didn’t matter to Stiles; the instant he walked through the door, he was drawn to a dog in the far corner of the room.

He was a white Staffordshire bull terrier puppy, curled up in the corner of his pen. As soon as Stiles approached, he leapt to his feet and ran over to Stiles, his nose pressed up against the bars of the cage. His shimmering black eyes looked up at Stiles lovingly, his mouth pulled back in a small smile.

The little plaque on the front of the cage read: My name is _PONCHO_.

“Can I let him out?” Stiles asked.

Derek nodded.

Stiles unlatched the pen, letting Poncho out of his cage.

Instantly, the pup ran into his arms, curling up in his lap and licking his face. Poncho’s body wriggled with excitement as he let Stiles hold him close.

Stiles heard Derek chuckle behind him. He looked over his shoulder at his husband.

“I want to take him home,” he said pleadingly.

“We have to get the fence put in first,” Derek reminded him. “We can’t take him home unless we have a secure backyard for him to run around in.”

Stiles pouted, turning his attention back to Poncho and holding him close. He cupped the Poncho’s heart-shaped head in his hands, looking deep into the puppy’s eyes as he said, “I promise, I’m coming back for you. Give us one week, then we’re taking you home. I promise.”

Poncho craned his neck, licking Stiles’ face and making the man smile.

Stiles stayed there for nearly an hour, playing with Poncho and giving him cuddles. It almost broke his heart when Derek insisted they had to leave and Stiles had to lock Poncho back in his pen.

 _One week_ , Stiles told himself. _I’ll be back in one week._

 

 

Stiles was at work when he got a message from Derek with a photo attached. He opened the photo, frowning in confusion as he looked at the photo of a metal fence. He scrolled down and read the message that accompanied it. ‘Backyard secured. I’ll pick you up after work and we’ll go get Poncho.’

Stiles’ face lit up with a smile, his hand shaking with excitement as he typed a reply to Derek.

As he promised, Derek was waiting outside the Sheriff’s office when Stiles finished. Stiles had to use every ounce of control he had to stop himself from running into the car.

He tapped his foot nervously as Derek drove towards the shelter. His heart pounded against his chest, his hands shaking as Derek reached out to take a hold of them.

After what felt like an eternity, they pulled up before the shelter.

Stiles leapt out the car, hurrying over to his husband’s side as Derek walked him inside. He rushed over the pen in the corner.

He felt his heart sink into his gut, his smile falling from his face as he looked at the empty pen.

The plaque above the door was blank, Poncho’s name rubbed off.

His vision blurred as hot tears welled in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he heard Erica say behind him. “Someone else came by earlier and adopted him. Had I known you-”

“It’s alright,” Stiles said quietly, his voice croaking under the strain as he fought back the urge to cry.

“Stiles,” Derek whispered, stepping over to Stiles’ side.

“I just—I felt like he was the one,” Stiles muttered, a glistening tear breaking free as it trailed down his cheek.

Derek let out a soft sigh, pulling his husband into his arms. “Come on, let’s go home. We’ll come back another day, alright?”

Stiles nodded.

Derek said a quick goodbye to Erica and walked Stiles back out to the car.

Stiles dragged his feet outside and climbed into the passenger’s seat of Derek’s car.

Derek slid into the driver’s seat. He glanced out the corner of his eye, watching Stiles fasten the belt across his chest and sit back against the cushion with a dejected sigh.

Stiles turned his head away, looking out the window as tears streamed down his cheeks. He drew in steady breaths, trying to hide his sobs from his husband. He felt the comforting vibrations of the purring Camaro roll through his numb body as Derek revved the car and drove home.

 

 

As they turned down the street, Stiles rubbed his tear-stained cheeks with his sleeve, looking at their approaching house. He frowned in confusion as he recognised another car in the driveway.

“What’s Cora doing here?” he asked.

“Oh right, I asked her to come over so we can plan something for Laura’s birthday,” Derek explained as the Camaro pulled up in the driveway. He shut off the engine and they stepped out, making their way over to the front door.

Stiles pushed open the front door, stepping into the open living space to see Cora sitting on one of the stools by the bench, a phone in hand. She turned the phone towards Stiles, smiling as she filmed his confused expression.

Stiles’ brow knitted together. He opened his mouth to say something when he heard it: the unmistakable sound of a dog’s nails tapping against the wooden floor boards.

Stiles gasped as he looked down in time to see the little white pup run around the corner of the couch, stumbling over his own feet as he sprinted towards Stiles.

Stiles dropped to his knees, letting the puppy jump up into his arms and lick his face. He buried his face in Poncho’s fur, hiding the tears that fell down his face.

Poncho wiggled about in his lap, snuggling his head into the curve of Stiles’ neck as Stiles held him close.

After a moment, he pulled back, wiping the tears from his face as he looked up at Derek. “How-?”

“Erica wasn’t lying; someone did adopt him before you got there,” Derek explained. “Cora and I picked him up as a surprise for you.”

“I hate you so much,” Stiles sobbed.

Poncho strained his neck, frantically licking Stiles’ face.

Derek chuckled, kneeling down beside Stiles and pulling the young man into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of Stiles’ head and whispered, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> celestialvoid-fanfiction.tumblr.com


End file.
